No Impact Man

This morning I woke up and was completely inspired. It started with mindset this morning when I read Dj Twelvz Facebook status. He was studying, but it was not for a test, or a paper he needed to write. He was reminding people to study for life, and better themselves, pointing out, only you can change you.

Then I was onto watching Faith Barnard's new youtube post. She was offering leadership value for network marketers. Faith is a life coach of sort, teaching people to own their own life.

Next I read the inspirational blog of Colin Beavan, No Impact Man, the reason for my post. I am just so blown away by the effort of one man. When... not if, you see the documentary of "No Impact Man", you will notice the efforts one family went through to make daily habit changes.

In the movie, you notice he did not just force his family into everything at once. Colin is shown doing the research for his next change. He has an outline planned and he is going through the steps of achieving it. As you will notice, each change is not emotionally easy for the family, but at the end there is more happiness achieved.

Now one might think this is all just an act for the movie, but this man, No Impact Man, continues with his plan. He is now reaching out to educate others about his mission and is willing to educate them how he did it. Read his latest blog post and help us help others to live better for the planet.

Just one of us has very little impact, but together with the right mindset, WE can have a gigantic impact! Support No Impact Man and his cause here.

Emotions

So a while ago, I said I was going to start blogging more, and recently a good friend called me out. I had not written an update for quite a while...

Here's a short video from this past week.



To help clarify some of my stuttering, each week I see Skipp Benzing at Hitter's SportsPlex in Middleton, WI, and I see Dr. Matt Kingston at Chiropractic Solutions in Madison, WI.

These guys are a big part of my health team, but back to the emotions...

Writing is another one of those things that is hard for me to do. I have gotten frustrated so often in the past when my writings have not come across in the manner they were intended to be perceived. I have learned the majority always have good intentions when writing; sometimes the communication level is not always up to par...

Hopefully video will allow me to have more blog posts and updates, and will improve how my intentions are perceived. If I can get over the fear of being on video... ;-)

Empowerment Model

At the start of getting my Master's in Natural Health, the first book I had to read was "The Natural Reader" by Susie Hale, Ph.D, a professor of traditional naturopathy from Clayton College of Natural Health. The book was about the Clayton College model of empowerment for natural health practice. The model provides the framework for a practitioner to empower the client.

The book begins with a description and background of allopathic, "Western" medicine and their medical model. Western medicine's model is based on diagnostic and prescriptive communication, reducing the individual to a set of symptoms. This has proven to be very effective for acute illness or trauma. For instance, when I compounded fractured my femur I was a big fan of this model.

The book then goes into the need for the empowerment model in the future. The importance of empowering the individual through knowledge allows each person to take greater personal responsibility for his or her own health, instead of viewing the person as a set of symptoms and thinking a simple pill is the solution.

Each person controls, for the most part, their environment and what they put into their mouth each day. This is much like the mindset of being an entrepreneur, being personally accountable, rather than expecting others to provide for you.

Within the empowerment model the practitioner is in a position to support each individual equally. Together the client and practitioner become a team to achieve greater health and healing for the client. The team environment created should reinforce the goal of the empowerment model from the physical setting to the communication; conveying the message of respect, receptiveness, and support. Verbal and nonverbal messages should clearly communicate a relationship of integrity allowing for respectful and open communication.

Communication is key to functioning within the empowerment model. The choice of words being used is designed to educate, support, and encourage the client to actively participate. Words interpreted to be prescriptive or diagnostic are to be completely avoided.

The Client should always receive educational information to make informed decisions immediately or in the future.

I found this book to be very empowering. The end gives specific client complaints and examples of diagnostic responses, prescriptive responses, and educational responses. I have reread the book numerous times in order to condition my brain to think differently.

The process of using educational language, avoiding prescriptive and diagnostic verbiage, which I have been so accustomed to using was really hard. I am sure I may have slipped a time or two, but I continue to try to do better. :-) It is always good to hear it multiple times, it takes a while before our brain develops the habit of changing our everyday normal tendencies.

As I build towards the launch of my solution to our current worldly situation, I will be looking for plenty of people willing to participate in the conversation and in the solution. Participating in the conversation and following along in and of itself will bring about change.

Here are some very inspirational people setting wonderful examples for a sustainable planet. Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man, Annie Leonard aka The Story of Stuff, and Mike Adams aka Health Ranger for example. Each of these people are sharing their stories and providing education from their perspective, while contributing to the conversation.